


waking hour

by nonopiimagines



Series: Femslash February [2]
Category: Halt and Catch Fire
Genre: F/F, Female Reader, Reader-Insert, implied sex, takes place between season 2 and season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-05-16 19:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19324588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonopiimagines/pseuds/nonopiimagines
Summary: f!reader x Cameron HoweCameron suddenly comes back into the reader's life.





	waking hour

You rolled over nearer to the edge of your bed, pushing the fluffy white comforters off you. It was a lot hotter in your bedroom than normal. Maybe it was the toasty California air seeping into your poorly insulated apartment but that wasn’t normally a problem. You rolled back over and had to stop yourself from jumping, but you still nearly fell off the bed.

It was Cameron.

The night before came rushing back into view. Cameron had told you through Community that Mutiny was moving up to the bay area. You didn’t think that meant she’d show up on your doorstep the day she flew in, ready to reignite the “friendship” you guys once had. But you let her in anyway. Your ordered Thai from the place down the street and opened a bottle of crappy wine and you sat and you talked. And then you opened your other crappy bottle of wine. You remembered seeing the stars in her eyes when she fondly talked about the Giant and then Mutiny. Her eyes turned darker and sadder when she talked about the move up to the west coast. All she said was that it didn’t go as planned. The next thing you knew, you were both on your bed, down to your undies, kissing and “rekindling the friendship” as you had known it previously.

So here you were. And Cameron was a late sleeper, as you recalled. It had been a few years since you’d seen her, but the way she worked was still the same. Which meant you needed to quietly escape the apartment and make your way to the coffee shop across the street, since your coffee maker was broken.

You sighed and looked at her face one more time. Her hair was tangled up around her head and her lips were chapped and there were faint lines coming in around her eyes. She looked especially pretty this way. All the stress gone from her face and the tenseness from her shoulders. Hopefully she’d still be here when you got back.

You carefully swung your legs off the bed, grabbed your pants, and walked out your bedroom door.

—

The line at the coffee shop was long and moved slowly. It was more time for Cameron to escape, you knew. You wondered if that was her goal when she came to your door yesterday. Did she intend to stay the night? You honestly didn’t mind but you also knew she wasn’t the best at facing certain social situations head on. If she was going to stay, if she was going to look you in the eyes when you returned, it would all depend on how you treated her last night. If she felt she could trust you regardless of how much time you had spent apart, then she would be there. And you hoped you said all the right things. Because you wanted her to stay.

When you had parted ways last, it didn’t go over very well. You had just finished your undergraduate studies and were planning to pursue a graduate degree in mechanical engineering at UC Berkley. You had met Cameron in some of your shared math and engineering courses and she ended up being your non-official roommate (as in, she slept in your bed more often than not and your real roommates didn’t mind). You had told her from the day you met her that Berkley was the plan. As you grew closer, so did graduate school. You took the GRE and were accepted into the program and Cameron was happy for you. But the last couple of weeks together were rough. She looked like she had been betrayed. Like she thought you were going to stay in Texas with her and deciding to leave was a complete blindside. In the end, she wasn’t there to see you off and that was the last you had spoken to her.

Until one of your colleagues told you about Mutiny and Community.

Finally, you had reached the front of the line. The barista looked exhausted but smiled nonetheless. You smiled back, ordered, and paid with a tip.

—

You had just gotten back into your building when you saw her exiting the stairwell. She had smoothed down her wild hair somewhat, but she still looked like she was fresh out of bed. Her backpack was slung on her shoulder. She was meaning to leave.

“Cam!” you called out, rushing over to her with the two coffees in your hands. When you reached her, you held one cup out to her and looked at her expectantly. You would not allow her to leave without her saying something, anything to you. “I got you a coffee. I hope you still like it the same way you did in college.”

Her big eyes glanced between you and the cup. There was something akin to fear residing in their blue depths. She seemed to get over it after taking the cup from your hand. “Thanks.”

You took a step closer to her and put your free hand on her arm. “Look, Cam,” you began, trying to hold her gaze for as long as she would let you. “You don’t have to stay and hang out. But I’m glad you’re here, in San Fran. I’ve missed you.” You paused to look at her face and make sure she was okay with what you were saying. She seemed frozen, hanging on to the space between you. So you continued, softer, “I just want you to know that you’re always welcome at my place. No matter what’s happening around us.”

Cameron pulled away from you and nodded, a small smile on her lips. She turned her attention to her coffee and took a sip. “Thank god you still remember.”

You beamed back her. “Of course I do. Black with a pound of sugar.”

She chuckled and sighed. “I have to take care of some work things today.”

Already way ahead of her, you pulled a paper and pen out of your purse, set your coffee down, and scribbled some numbers onto the paper. You handed it Cameron. “My work and home numbers. If you ever need them. If Community ever goes down.”

She nudged your shoulder gently on her way toward the door. “With our new mainframe, we’ll never go down!” Cameron called behind her.

You shook your head and watched her leave before heading back to your apartment.

**Author's Note:**

> written for femslash february twenty million years ago
> 
> requests are always open, find me on the tumblr @nonopiimagines


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